Gopher

Just post whatever you've seen.

Time for 2009. I got enough responses for 2010 that I'll keep doing this and collect BOT's list of favorite films.I'll start-1. A Serious Man 2. Inglourious Basterds 3. Up in the Air 4. Fantastic Mr. Fox 5. The Hurt Locker 6. Up 7. A Single Man 8. Where the Wild Things Are 9. In the Loop 10. District 9 11. Black Dynamite 12. (500) Days of Summer 13. Star Trek 14. Watchmen 15. Moon This was a great year...

2009 will be IB, 2008 will be TDK, 2007 will be There Will Be Blood, 2006 will be The Departed. These are too predictable.

1. The Social Network A 2. Inception A 3. Toy Story 3 A 4. How to Train Your Dragon A-/B+ 5. Black Swan A 6. 127 Hours A- 7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 A-/B+ 8. The Fighter A- 9. Tangled B+ 10. True Grit A- 11. The King's Speech B- 12. Exit Through the Gift Shop A 13. The Town B 14. Let Me In B+ 15. Shutter Island B

1. THE SOCIAL NETWORK (181 points, 15 lists) In the summer of 2009, when David Fincher announced he was going to direct Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of a book about Facebook, the internet collectively groaned. Critics wound up hailing the movie as the second coming, and they weren't far from the truth. The Social Network can be viewed in many different lights: a talky, subtle, brilliant Sorkin script perfectly suited for Fincher's meticulous, cold-cutting style of direction, a lamentation on the loss of connectivity in an age of instant connectivity, a success story that flips the notion that only the established, big league men can rule the world on its head, and a brilliant, atmospheric score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The Social Network is a modern masterpiece.

2. Inception (176 points, 16 lists) BRRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWRWRRRMRMRMMRMRMMMMM

3. Toy Story 3 (163 points, 16 lists) Wrapping up one of the strongest cinematic trilogies ever, Toy Story 3 is a hilarious escape movie, and a haunting tale of abandonment and moving on. It capped a series of Pixar films- Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and then TS3- that are some of the best animated films ever made. So we sort of had Cars 2 coming.

4. How to Train Your Dragon (115 points, 13 lists) No one expected Dreamworks, whose last few movies were Monsters vs. Aliens and Madagascar 2, to be this good. Dragon is a fun, thrilling adventure.

5. Black Swan (113 points, 12 lists) In Black Swan, Aronofsky brought to life this captivating dance of a film. It's a creepy tale of obsession that can't be described very well, just seen.

6. 127 Hours (107 points, 11 lists) In my favorite performance of 2010, James Franco spends 80% of a movie stuck between two rocks. And it completely works. 127 Hours is dark, soulful and enthralling, from a truly visionary director in Danny Boyle who uses a cramped setting to his advantage. It's a movie that makes you glad to be alive (and have a right arm).

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (94 points, 13 lists) Part 2 was obviously the more beloved of the boy wizard's finale. But I have nothing but kind words to say about Part 1: it's throughly engaging, beautiful to look at, dark, atmospheric, and features the best acting work among the Harry, Ron and Hermonie trio. I would have watched a whole movie with them just in the forest even more eagerly than the eventual Hogwarts battle.

8. The Fighter (86 points, 11 lists) The Fighter works very well as a traditional sports biopic. It mashes well directed boxing action with solid family drama. But it's an incredible ensemble- highlighted by a career-best performance from Christian Bale- that makes The Fighter great.

9. Tangled (73 points, 8 lists) This is Disney's best in-house cartoon since the 90s, and there's a reason I'm not alone in saying that. Tangled is funny and heartfelt- we've seen the backwards CGI fairy tale many times, but Tangled works at its own rhythm. A few Alan Menken songs never hurt, too.

10. True Grit (62 points, 7 lists) Some criticized True Grit for not being Coen enough to be a Coen brothers film. And yes, they may have added a lighter touch to the Portis novel. But as a tale of revenge and obsession and as a well made, well acted Western, True Grit doesn't skimp on heavyweight material.

11. The King's Speech (52 points, 7 lists) Yep, I'm not a fan. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were both good, but I found nothing else about The King's Speech remarkable. But you guys liked it, and it made a lot of money, and it won Best Picture for some reason. So I guess it's worth something!

12. Exit Through the Gift Shop (51 points, 6 lists) Uproariously funny, Exit Through the Gift Shop flips the idea of the documentary on its head in a remarkable fashion. It's as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.

13. The Town (48 points, 5 lists) Who knew that Ben Affleck, who just 10 years ago wasn't much more than tabloid fodder, was such a skilled director? The Town's biggest flaw is arguably that it's nothing more than a genre exercise, but it's a genre exercise meticulously put together, never lacking on pace or impact. I can't wait for Argo this year.

14. Let Me In (47 points, 6 lists) There was a lot of criticism when this remake was announced, given that the novel and the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In were sort of beloved by viewers. But this is anything but an American bastardization- aside from being an incredibly effective and hauntingly atmospheric horror film, Let Me In is a beautiful coming of age story. It's familiar, but when it's made with this level of craft, I'm willing to let it slide.

15. Shutter Island (46 points, 6 lists) I remember finding this film engaging throughout, if not a little choppy. Yet I don't remember much else. Oh well. Both Scorsese and DiCaprio have done much better, that's for sure.

Everything else in between- The Kids Are All Right- 20 Tron Legacy- 20 Easy A- 24 Animal Kingdom- 28 Four Lions- 29 Blue Valentine- 31 The Ghost Writer- 38 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World- 41 Kick-Ass- 46 Disappointed that Four Lions and Blue Valentine didn't get more traction. Pilgrim is actually pretty low coming from these boards.

Same drill, different thread for safekeeping purposes. Movies mentioned but earned less than 20 points- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- 1 The Disappearance of Alice Creed- 1 Enter the Void- 1 Fair Game- 1 Monsters- 1 Get Him to the Greek- 2 Catfish- 3 Clash of the Titans- 3 Paranormal Activity 2- 3 The Crazies- 4 Due Date- 4 Machete- 4 Wall Street 2- 4 Inside Job- 6 Saw 3D- 6 Book of Eli- 7 Buried- 7 Greenburg- 7 I Love You Philip Morris- 7 Megamind- 7 Robin Hood- 7 Batman: Under the Red Hood- 9 Restrepo- 9 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- 10 Iron Man 2- 11The Other Guys- 11 Never Let Me Go- 11 Salt- 11Unstoppable- 11 Waste Land- 11 Another Year- 12 The Robber- 12 The Karate Kid- 12 Despicable Me- 13 The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole- 13Rabbit Hole- 13 The Illusionist- 14 Red- 15 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse- 15 Winter's Bone- 15Un Prophète- 18

The ensemble is pretty strong but the script falls flat and surprisingly goes for the easiest punches (politicians are corrupt and corrupting is really all the movie had to say). Also, I insist that Gosling was miscast. I love the actor, but I didn't buy his transition from a naive hopeful to what was more or less his character in Drive.

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Let's go, people! I only have 15 lists.

What makes Breakfast Club or even Ferris Bueller (I'll leave Sixteen Candles out of this) even more impressive than their terrific screenplays and teenage performances suggest is how no high school movies since have been able to reflect their respective generations this well. The closest this generation has gotten is Mean Girls and Easy A, which are funny but really lightweight movies. Few movies aimed at teens today, and none that are massively popular, are as honest and poignant and revelatory as The Breakfast Club was.Shame.